What is the most powerful 'passive' cooled video card available NOW?

This is the question you have to ask yourself before complaining about the 5200Ultra in the new iMac. What other card, currently available, could Apple have used? AFAIK, the GF5200 is the only recent generation/DX9 capable desktop card (I know, Macs don't use DX, but that is the comparison I used to seperate the available PC cards) that is available without an onboard fan (or fans!!!).

Unless something completely new comes out, the only better possibilty would be to use the Mobility Radeon 9700 out of the PB, but that would blur the Pro/Consumer lineup...

So, the graphics are, IMHO, one of the few 'hold-ups' on the iMac^3, but logically, the 5200 was the only card we could have expected. After all, two PowerMacs ship with 5200.(though the larger case allows the 9800 as BTO)

And try to find a PC AIO with a better card...

At lesast the 8X AGP is an improvement over the G4 iMac. If Apple stays with the 5200 due to heat issues, hopefully we will see it bumped 128MB in the next revision...??

Comments

Really good point there. And remember, a huge portion of the PC's being sold in the iMac's segment have either a low-end video card like this (that you can replace, but honestly, few ever do), or integrated video. And this is a huge step above that.

Unless something completely new comes out, the only better possibilty would be to use the Mobility Radeon 9700 out of the PB, but that would blur the Pro/Consumer lineup...

I think this is part of the problem. A 5200 in a PRO system of any kind is a joke. For the cost, they shouldn't be using anything less than a 9700 Pro standard in the PM line at this point. Even that card is 2 years old now.

Then almost any modern mobile line would be fine. If they can cool the G5 quietly, cooling a decent GPU is not a stretch.

Your point would make a little sense if the iMac was passively cooled. It isn't--it has 3 fans. There are Shuttle XPC the size of toasters that have PCIe slots and enough active cooling for Radeion x800s.

I work for a PC manufacturer and all the sales guys were laughing at the 5200 in the new iMac. Of course I had to point out that all of our $1399 systems (not even AIO) are only available with integrated GPU's with 32MB SHARED graphics memory and use the SiS 963L chipset. Ouch!

Isn't it funny how Apple's consumer AIO computer is held to such a high standard and compared to PCs with such zeal that critics can't even see how crazy their fervor over the 5200 is.

Your point would make a little sense if the iMac was passively cooled. It isn't--it has 3 fans. There are Shuttle XPC the size of toasters that have PCIe slots and enough active cooling for Radeion x800s.

Apple has no excuse.

The size of toasters... and, what, the noise level of vacuum cleaners?

I really don't know if the Shuttles are that noisy or not... I've only seen pictures, I haven't seen one in operation. They are probably a good bit louder than the new G5 iMacs in most configurations.

The iMac does have 3 fans, but they are variable speed fans that Apple wants running as quietly as possible most of the time.

So maybe Apple does have an excuse. How good that excuse is? I have no idea.

Your point would make a little sense if the iMac was passively cooled. It isn't--it has 3 fans. There are Shuttle XPC the size of toasters that have PCIe slots and enough active cooling for Radeion x800s.

Apple has no excuse.

tomshardware did a nice article on those small form factor PCs. All of them are *much* louder than the iMac and some staggeringly so. I like the size and features though. Definitely something for Apple to consider in some ways.

tomshardware did a nice article on those small form factor PCs. All of them are *much* louder than the iMac and some staggeringly so. I like the size and features though. Definitely something for Apple to consider in some ways.

You don't know that until an iMac actually ships and someone tests the audio output when running demanding tasks.

Just because Apple says it's quiet while doing nothing doesn't make it a quiet machine.

Also, it's true older small form factor (SFF) PCs were loud. But technology has improved a lot recently. Newer designs have heatpipe technology and quieter fans. See Shuttle's newer systems.

You don't know that until an iMac actually ships and someone tests the audio output when running demanding tasks. Stop pulling stuff out of your ass.

You're right that I don't know myself. The small form factor machines are rather loud though. Apple has always kept the iMac a rather quiet machine in every incarnation so I would not expect this to change.

I went based on the test numbers from Tomshardware and the specs on Apples page. Based on that the iMac *is* much more quiet than the quietest SFF machines (the Shuttle boxes).

In that case, they tested the Intel Pentium versions of the Shuttle. That one does run hotter than the x86-64 Athlon version for 3 main reasons:

1. More powerful power supply.

2. Hot Prescott processors

3. PCIe motherboard

It's better to compare the iMac to the x86-64 Athlon since the G5 and the Athlon64/FX are 64-bit processors on a hypertransport bus.

I would like to see more tests on the Athlon 64 boxes but Toms seemed fair enough in most regards giving idle/load readings. Shuttle has been building the SFF boxes for longer than most companies and it showed. The intel powered boxes gave 40db at idle and the iMac is claimed to produce 25db so I'd probably still give the advantage to the iMac strictly based on what I've read (which may or may not reflect realty of course ).

For a PC though the shuttle looks like a nice choice. I despise large towers.

I would like to see more tests on the Athlon 64 boxes but Toms seemed fair enough in most regards giving idle/load readings. Shuttle has been building the SFF boxes for longer than most companies and it showed. The intel powered boxes gave 40db at idle and the iMac is claimed to produce 25db so I'd probably still give the advantage to the iMac strictly based on what I've read (which may or may not reflect realty of course ).

For a PC though the shuttle looks like a nice choice. I despise large towers.

I looked at Toms' website and it seems they tested the old generation 4 shuttles. The one I linked to above is the new generation 5 shuttle (32 dB).